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Indiana

Two new studies of private school voucher programs – one in Indiana and the other in Louisiana – confirm that students using vouchers to attend private schools will see a drop in their academic achievement.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was expected to finally reveal details of President Donald J. Trump’s long-promised federal school voucher plan last night. Instead, we heard a lot of platitudes, but little in the way of a policy proposal.

The Department of Education just released a new study of the Washington, D.C., school voucher program. And the findings confirm what we’ve known for years: The program doesn’t improve students’ academic achievement. In fact, it has resulted in statistically significant negative impacts on student test scores.

Americans United is speaking out against a bill in Oklaho­ma that would bring formal prayer back into public schools.

The bill, SB 450, is euphemistically called the “Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act.” The measure would prohibit school districts from restricting what it calls a student’s “voluntary religious expression in the classroom.”

The New York Times recently ran a story about researchers being surprised by the “dismal” results school voucher programs have so far produced.

As The Times notes, “[A] wave of new research has emerged suggesting that private school vouchers may harm students who receive them. The results are startling – the worst in the history of the field, researchers say.”

Yesterday, reports emerged that President Donald Trump was reviewing the draft of another alarming executive order, one that would roll back existing protections barring discrimination against LGBTQ people.

An Indiana court has rejected a woman’s claim that she has a “religious freedom” right to abuse her son.

Kin Park Thaing, 30, was sentenced in October to one year of probation for hitting her 7-year-old son repeatedly with a coat hanger. Thaing was prosecuted thanks to a teacher who spotted dozens of bruises on the child’s body.

A prosecutor in Marion County said Thaing’s case tested the bounds of Indiana’s new Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which became law in 2015 and states that government cannot place any undue burden on religious practice without good reason.

Last night’s vice presidential debate covered several issues pertaining to the economy, foreign policy, immigration and even faith – for a brief moment.

When debate moderator Elaine Quijano asked, “Can you discuss in detail a time when you struggled to balance your personal faith and a public policy position?” both U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) talked about reproductive rights.